Many amputees are dissatisfied with the comfort and fit of their prosthetic device. Amputees typically have daily fluctuations in limb volume that result in improper fit of the sockets of their prosthetic devices, causing discomfort, skin breakdown, and instability during ambulation. The fit of the socket portion, which is the portion of the prosthetic device that fits around the amputated or “residual” limb, is very sensitive to changes in volume of the residual limb. When limb volume reduces, as commonly occurs throughout the day, the residual limb moves or “pistons” up and down in the socket, altering the fit of the socket and potentially inducing sores on the skin of the residual limb. Skin and underlying soft tissue injury is debilitating for the amputee, and can lead to secondary disability and a worsened quality of life.
In an attempt to try and accommodate for fluid volume loss of the residual limb, amputees may add socks, enlarge air-filled or liquid-filled bladders placed between the limb and socket, or use a vacuum pump to apply negative pressure to the residual limb and thus pull soft tissue outward towards the inner wall of the socket. Practically, however, most amputees do none of these things. This is true because the prosthesis must be removed to do so, which requires outer clothing also be removed. This is often socially unacceptable, disruptive, and time-consuming. Furthermore, technology may be viewed as “finicky” and unusable by non-technically-minded amputees. There is a need for improving the fit of a prosthetic device to a residual limb to thereby improve the comfort and quality of life of an amputee wearing the prosthetic device.